J. J. Keller announces 2025 Safety Professional of the Year awards

Family-owned J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc., a provider of safety and regulatory compliance products and services across North America, recently announced the winners of its 2025 Safety Professional of the Year (SPOTY) awards.

J. J. Keller said its annual SPOTY awards recognize outstanding safety professionals who demonstrate leadership, innovation, and measurable impact in advancing workplace safety during their careers.

For 23 years, the SPOTY Awards have honored safety professionals who go above and beyond in their roles. The program is open exclusively to professionals employed by J. J. Keller customer companies in the U.S. and Canada.

The 2025 SPOTY winners were selected by a panel of judges from J. J. Keller’s staff of safety and compliance experts, through an extensive nomination, application, and interview process. The winners represent three distinct company sizes.

Awards for small, medium, and large businesses

O’Shane Lewis

• Position: Safety & Compliance Coordinator
• Company: Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida
• Category: Small Business (under 200 employees)

Harry Chapin Food Bank, a Feeding America partner food bank, is the largest hunger-relief organization in Southwest Florida.

Nicholas Dufek

• Position: Director of Health Safety & Security
• Company: Neenah Foundry
• Category: Medium Business (200-5,000 employees)

Neenah Foundry proudly produces cast iron infrastructure products in Neenah, Wisconsin, delivering reliable products to municipalities and construction markets nationwide.

Patrick Flynn

• Position: Vice President of Operations Training and Development
• Company: Groundworks
• Category: Large Business (over 5,000 employees)

Groundworks provides foundation repair, basement waterproofing, crawl space encapsulation, and concrete lifting.

Award recipients shared safety visions in public webcast

“These safety professionals exemplify what it means to build a culture of safety, where ensuring employees return home safely to their families at the end of the day or shift is of the utmost importance,” said Rustin Keller, J. J. Keller president and CEO. “Their commitment to not only protecting people but inspiring others to do the same is what the safety profession is all about. We are so pleased to honor them.”

Each winner will receive a prize package valued at up to $47,200, including a donation to a nonprofit organization in their name, product and service subscriptions, and a commemorative award.

J. J. Keller hosted a free public webcast Oct. 27 where audience members heard directly from the 2025 SPOTY Award winners and learned how their vision for safety has created excellence and set them apart in the eyes of the safety experts at J. J. Keller.